Recently, numerous outbreaks of food poisoning have resulted from consuming ground beef contaminated with toxigenic strains of Escherichia coli or chickens infected with shigella or salmonella. These outbreaks have become a major public health problem and a large-scale industry and government program is underway to minimize and prevent further attacks of food poisoning. One aspect of this program involves examination of the sanitary practices in food processing facilities, especially meat and poultry processing plants. Inherent in such a program is a determination of the microbial profile or burden in work stations, carcasses, and any surface coming in contact with the product that could be a source of contamination.
Current surface sampling techniques include rubbing a sterile moist cotton swab or moist pieces of gauze across a suspect surface, and in the laboratory after elution, the number and types of microorganisms are determined. Another technique uses nutrient agar molded in the shape of a "sausage". A section or slice of this sausage agar is taken and the sliced section pressed down on the suspect surface, removed, and after incubation, the numbers and types of microorganisms determined. The present invention utilizes the advantages of these systems while minimizing the disadvantages thereof.
It is accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide an improved method for sampling of surfaces for suspect microorganisms.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel sampling tool for determining microorganism presence, identification, and quantity on a test surface.
It is another object of the present invention to employ double-faced adhesive tape for attaching an agar saturated porous plastic foam to a support base to form a microorganism sampling tool.
Another object of the present invention is a process of making a microorganism sampling and identification tool.